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A desperate programme for desperate people.
Would be better to stay in bed and save on an hour of heating costs.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
Brilliant!
And yes, as feared, what do we get on the review today. No sign of Fakenham or Cork from Monday. Instead two back to back Southwell reviews!
So the Southwell races from Tuesday have THREE viewings in full screen, while we only see the Fakenham races once live – two races in split screen (one in the small screen with no commentary).
I wasn’t expecting a full review, that seems out of the question, but there was a twenty minute slot spare this morning. No excuses, just frustrating.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
I can only think there has been a change of policy.
In previous years they would have dropped Cork and one of the UK NH meetings and shown recordings after the live action or in the racing review.
Obviously, now they have screwed up the review programme, they can’t (or won’t) show all the meetings, so probably feel they have to show everything live.
Out of the 45 races on Monday, only 13 were shown in full screen in their entirety. At least 6 races were shown in the smaller box with no commentary.
At least the Irish Grand National was shown in full at 18.10 and the two graded races in full during the early part of Stateside.
The Racing Review was extended on Good Friday and all of the previous days meetings were shown in full. Admittedly there was no UK racing to preview, but why ATR can’t be flexible in their timings is a mystery.
Today’s review could have been extended from 11.15 to 12.00 to show Fakenham and Cork. Instead we had 3 hours of so called news and interviews, repeated several times.
What’s the chances of Fakenham being shown tomorrow when there is only Fairyhouse and Southwell to review? I won’t hold my breath as this would require a degree of common sense and initiative…….
and we get a review of Southwell AW, twice! – Frustration 2, Common Sense 0.
Although, in Monday morning’s review there did seem to be an attempt to join races at the point the dreaded split screen kicked in during the previous day’s live racing. So, maybe there are still a few brain cells kicking around the ATR studios.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
So on a forum for race fans there is a thread saying there is no interest in Dubai World Cup night. Even tongue in cheek I find it strange.
Surely it can’t be that surprising. If everyone liked every type of racing and had broadly the same opinion there would be no point in a forum in the first place.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
There has to be some reason why ATR/RUK insist on showing any of this Dubai stuff, even when it interferes with the UK coverage. Probably something to do with the money that has been channeled into British racing from that part of the world over the last 20 years or so.
If there’s no UK/Irish racing, no problem, but personally I’d rather watch a repeat of Starsky and Hutch (preferably series 1 or 2).
Same goes for any other artificial "betting opportunity", Lincoln trial? Winter Derby? Yawn
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
When does a 2m 5f, 6 runner novices’ hurdle from 11th March become a 3 runner 3m 2f Handicap Chase on 14th January?
Only on the ATR Racing Review!!
Beware Chalk Pit and Quartz Du Montceau apparently both ran twice the same day.
The 4.40 from Plumpton also had a head-on from the 5.20 at Taunton!
While I’m at it, who made the decision to use tiny results graphics in the corner of the screen instead of a full screen graphic during the live broadcasts?
No complaints when there are three or more meetings as we sometimes didn’t get any results on screen, but when there are only one or two meetings there is plenty of time and absolutely no excuse for not using a full screen graphic.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
Definitely all permanent at Towcester.
An example is the open ditch (third last) at the bottom of the hill.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
I think most courses here in the South of Britain have permanent fences including:
Ascot
Chepstow
Exeter
Fontwell??Huntingdon
Kempton
Lingfield
Newbury
Plumpton
SandownI’m pretty sure one of Ascot’s fences in the straight is now portable, the last I think.
Huntingdon’s second last fence is now portable.
They can be moved between meetings, if necessary, for track maintenance purposes.
It should be stressed though, that their construction is different to the "wheelie fences" used by Southwell and Worcester.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
Watched the review today and saw that they’ve actually got the win, place and show prices up on the graphics now. And they’ve changed them a bit too.
Pity they continue to refuse to change the whole morning sequence back to the way it was.
These graphics are a lot better, much clearer. At last some improvement from ATR.
Totally agree that the Review needs returning to it’s previous format. Watch out, on Saturday 16th ATR have six meetings, so I would expect two meetings won’t get shown at all in the review on Sunday morning (no doubt the two flat aw meetings will be shown though!)
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
The period between Christmas and Cheltenam is more pathetic every season.
Yes it is, the more AW fixtures we get, the more pathetic it gets. One of these fixtures a day is more than enough.
The BHA should get the Flat season sorted out, pathetic is also an appropriate description of it’s start and finish. The turf flat season should start after Aintree and finish at least a week earlier.
Instead we have it "starting" with Doncaster on 22nd/23rd March, then nothing until Musselburgh 30th/31st and BH Monday and then another break until Leicester 5th April.
Similarly, we have the "finale" at Doncaster on 9th November. The preceding week we only have Redcar and Nottingham on the 5th and 6th.
Flat and NH seasons are equally enjoyable, but the edges have been blurred. Overloading Saturdays with every "big" race possible, leaving very few midweek highlights doesn’t help.
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They are what they say on the tin – NH Flat races for jumpers.
Specifically created to give NH horses a chance to race on AW tracks during long periods of bad weather, as opposed to the usual NH flat races which are indeed restricted to horses who have not run under rules.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
That’s excellent feedback. Thanks very much Espmadrid !
What with this and the rest of the feedback, I see I’m going to have to come up with something a bit more difficult next time !
I have uploaded the 1985 Welsh Grand National to Youtube for you. The picture quality is NOT great, the weather conditions didn’t help, but hope you enjoy it! Just click the link http://youtu.be/uBcSKIQkMc8
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
The day was most memorable however for a race that a few may remember between Ramstar and Castle Diamond which was the best Maguire Dunwoody battle I ever saw. Not more than half a length between them for last half mile and an epic finish.
It also was one of the earliest examples of race being marred by the whip rules both getting bans despite in my opinion getting rides that showed off the attributes of their respective jockeys so briliantly.
Indeed a thrilling race, a 16 runner Novices’ Chase, a rare event these days!
Click the link to watch the full race with Graham Goode in the C4 commentary box…http://youtu.be/HDRmprmJzs0
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
With the news that Cheltenham may be hosting a rescheduled Victor Chadler Chase next week, let’s take a trip down memory lane:
Following some inclement weather in the winter of 1994, the powers that be made what was at the time a quite revolutionary decision to restage Ascot’s abandoned Victor Chandler Chase at Warwick.
There was much criticism of the move, the thinking being that the local track was too ‘minor’ to host such a prestigious race and the arbitary restaging of races could only lead to
very bad things
. Fortunately, Channel Four weren’t so Luddite and sent their full team down to give it the works.
It was a desperate, soaking day with really heavy ground but Warwick and C4 were rewarded with a big crowd and a cracking atmosphere.
The Victor Chandler itself featured just four runners but it was nevertheless a real quality quartet: Waterloo Boy, Billy Bathgate, Egypt Mill Prince and Viking Flagship. The betting was really tight, all four going off between 5-2 and 3-1. The latter pairing fought out the finish with Richard Dunwoody getting David Nicholson’s brutish
Viking Flagship
up to win by 2l.
To see the race in full……http://youtu.be/jn_WpO-tJ2c
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
Do these tracks not have plows?
No, but they do have ploughs.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
I know the all-weather pedants will have a go at me, but have to laugh at today’s two all weather meetings at Lingfield and Wolves being abandoned… because of the weather
I wonder what ATR will show today instead, I know it won’t be a review of all the meetings they’ve never shown
No not quite, but (after the SA racing) a review of some of the meetings this week, including Ffos Las, which they managed to screw up on Wednesday morning, so redeemed themselves slightly. Still didn’t manage to show complete races though.
Luckily the AW racing was abandoned late, otherwise they would probably have scraped together a mind numbingly boring chat fest instead.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
I have it on good authority that the racing replay clips are done by media trained technical people with no horse racing knowledge. Their remit is to squeeze as much of each race to fit the allotted time. Therefore they are not thinking lets show race A in full as its an exciting novice chase with festival clues and only show the closing stages of a 2m AW claimer at Lingfield. Very worrying indeed.
Easily believable that they have no racing knowledge. "Trained" or "technical" is very debatable. I could do a far better job with my VCR (and I do!).
There is no common sense applied some days, as Wednesday morning demonstrated. The fact that nobody checks or cares what is going to be broadcast is shocking. Just because it’s "free" (as long as you have paid for your equipment and basic tv package) doesn’t make it acceptable.
ATR management have to take the blame for ruining the review programme. Do we really need three news bulletins in the morning? Is there anything that is so earth shattering that we desperately need to know it three times? Half the programme is usually looking back at yesterday’s racing anyway.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
